{"id":13487,"date":"2023-10-12T15:40:54","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T21:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iccu.com\/?p=13487"},"modified":"2024-10-22T13:15:34","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:15:34","slug":"what-is-multi-factor-authentication-mfa-and-how-can-it-protect-my-bank-account","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iccu.com\/blog\/financial-education\/what-is-multi-factor-authentication-mfa-and-how-can-it-protect-my-bank-account\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and How Can It Protect My Bank Account?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Did you know that two of every three Americans<\/a> use the same password for several important accounts? Worse yet, one in every two Americans<\/a> had their internet accounts breached in 2021 alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eva Vasquez, President and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center<\/a>, recently said, \u201cToo many people find themselves between criminals and the organizations that hold consumer information. Many of the cyberattacks committed are highly sophisticated and complex, requiring aggressive defenses to prevent them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is good news amidst the doom and gloom:<\/strong> You can thwart most attacks with a simple free tool, one that you\u2019re probably already familiar with \u2014 multi-factor authentication (MFA). Chances are, you\u2019re already using MFA in your everyday life. The question is, are you using it to its full potential?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is multi-factor authentication?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n


Multi-factor authentication (or two-factor authentication<\/a>) is a security technique that can deter cybercriminals from accessing your accounts. It requires you to verify your identity twice \u2014 once with your login credentials and again with a different method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Authentication methods tend to fall into three distinct categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n